Chasing Unwanted Vermin From Your Roof: How Roofing Companies Can Pest-Proof Your Home

22 January 2015

Marvin Simmons

In Canada, it is common to have squirrels, racoons, mice and birds trying to get in and roost in homes over the winter. Sometimes you might even have an unwanted opossum or feral cat trying to make your home theirs. Their favorite access points are always near the roof of your home. If you want to discourage Canada's many furry inhabitants from moving in, here are a few things you can do.

Roofing Companies Can Help

Hire a roofer to examine your roof and roof ventilation system. He or she will climb up onto your roof and look for access points that many animals use to get into your attic and the warm spaces in between the walls. Then they can show you how the animals are getting in and what they will do to seal them out. You may even see some entry points yourself from the ground, which often include bent or missing parts of the roofing vents.

This is the typical list of tasks a roofer will perform to pest-proof your home:

Replace the vents and back them with flame-resistant filter foam so that the air circulates out, but the animals cannot get in

Seal the loose or pried-up shingles

Patch small holes to block them up

Place a grate over the chimney, even if you still have a working fireplace, to prevent birds and squirrels from roosting or warming in the chimney

Stretch roofing rubber or felt over the edges of the eaves where it has worn away or been chewed away

Install gutter covers to deter nesting birds and foraging squirrels

Examine your insulation behind the siding and under the roof and increase its density to make it more difficult for mice to get in

Trimming back any overhanging tree branches, which make it really easy for larger pests to get onto your roof in the first place

Using expanding foam insulation along the edges of your siding to block entry points close to the ground

If you choose to have a roofer perform all of the above, then it should significantly decrease your personal encounters of the furry kind. You will not have to set as many traps every winter, and you may find that you do not have to set any traps at all.

Finding a Roofing Company/Contractor That Provides These Services

Most roofing companies provide the previously mentioned services as home and roofing maintenance. They generally do not advertise it as pest-prevention, but all of these maintenance services combined have this valuable benefit. The only things you will need to ask the contractor about is the price and how soon he or she can perform these services.